When Zhao Pengcheng came, he was dusty, and his shoes were covered with mud. And the room was so clean that he felt the urge to change into a surgical gown and put on sterile gloves.

There were no chairs in the room, and he felt a little embarrassed to stand in it.

Ten years of growing up in prison originally made him think that he had already overcome most of the emotional troubles of human beings, and that he could be unfazed no matter what the circumstances, even if he was suddenly released, when he saw his comrades at the prison gate, shook hands and said "We have won", he was also very calm.

But he didn't know why, as soon as he entered this clean room and saw this "enemy" who had been lying on the bed and had worried about his life and death for ten years, those emotions that had long been consumed suddenly gushed up like spring water, and they flowed endlessly. Perhaps from the moment he desperately wanted to see Aoki and confirm that this person was alive or dead, the seeds of emotion had already begun to sprout, and finally grew wildly in this spring and summer day.

Bi Shenghua didn't seem to mind at all, just put the basin on the bedside table, poured some hot water into it, and tested the water temperature with her hands, the water temperature was obviously very hot, and she immediately retracted her hand.

Zhao Pengcheng tried his best to hide his missteps, and hurriedly asked, "Do you need cold water, I'll help you pick it up." ”

Bi Shenghua said lightly: "There are bacteria in the cold water. ”

Zhao Pengcheng slapped his head, annoyed that as a doctor, he had forgotten even basic nursing knowledge. The care of a vegetative person is a very troublesome thing, especially after a long time, as the body's function declines, and if there is no good medical environment, it is easy to be susceptible to external infections.

After the water temperature cooled down naturally, Bishenghua began to scrub Aoki's body with a warm towel.

She first wiped her face, gently, starting from her forehead, to her cheeks, eyelids, nose and mouth, little by little, carefully and carefully, like a cultural relics scientist wiping a precious piece of thousand-year-old jade.

Next, she wiped Aoki's hands, then her feet. After wiping down a place, change a basin of water and a towel.

Zhao Pengcheng discovered that this man-in-law, who didn't seem to have any feminine flavor at all, was actually a very meticulous woman. Her movements were gentle and slow, and her expression was focused and dignified. There were many wrinkles between her heroic eyebrows and eyes, the bags under her eyes were slightly puffy, and the skin on her hands was very dry, with several cracks, which should have been left by taking care of the man on the bed.

"How long has he been lying here?" Zhao Pengcheng asked.

"It's been almost ten years." He spent his life scrubbing his towel and continuing his work.

"Why not care in a hospital or nursing center? The conditions are better there. ”

"I was in the hospital at first, but ......"

Bi Shenghua paused and didn't say any more.

Zhao Pengcheng seemed to hear an endless sigh. Whatever the reason, he could understand, what vegetative person would lie in the hospital for ten years?

However, under such rudimentary nursing conditions, it is a miracle that he has lived for ten years!

After helping Aoki wipe his hands and feet, Bishenghua sat down and began to massage Aoki.

Zhao Pengcheng's mouth opened, and he wanted to say that he should take off Aoki's clothes and clean them inside, but he suddenly felt that he was so redundant. How can people not clean, it's just that it's inconvenient for an outsider to be present.

He saw that the technique of pinching and holding all his life was very professional, and he said without words: "Have you learned massage?" ”

Bi Shenghua also seemed to relax, put Aoki's arm on his lap, kneaded it gently, and said, "After he fell into a coma, the doctor at the hospital taught me." ”

"You've been guarding him like this for ten years?"

Zhao Pengcheng has never understood where this emotion of human beings comes from, from the perspective of racial evolution and continuation, Aoki is already a wasted person, and his existence has no meaning except for dragging his feet.

What doesn't make sense should be discarded.

He believed that such a philosophy of existence should be pervasive not only in their race, but in all corners of the universe.

Even on Earth, the instinct of an animal abandons an aging and wounded companion, whether a lion, a bison, or a hound, even if it was once the king who helped the people through their troubles and brought glory.

Only human beings, this strange race, have actually evolved sympathy, pity and love, as well as some more complex emotions that Zhao Pengcheng has not been able to understand so far.

Just like the woman in front of her, she is in her thirties, but she has lost the vitality of life, and everything about her beauty, heroism, spontaneity, and self-confidence has disappeared in the ten years of taking care of a vegetative person, and all that remains on her face are the wrinkles and dark spots caused by slow aging.

"yes, ten years." Bishenghua replied.

"Every day is like this?"

"Pretty much."

Bi Shenghua replied calmly, as if ten years was only ten hours.

Zhao Pengcheng couldn't ask anymore. Because he didn't know the point of asking, and he didn't know why he was asking. He just came to see Aoki, just to know if the man who almost made him doomed back then had died.

Now he saw it, but instead of the satisfaction of realizing his long-cherished wish for ten years, he felt extremely empty.

Yes, emptiness.

It is also an emotion that is unique to human beings.

Zhao Pengcheng felt that it was time for him to go. He looked at Aoki on the bed and straightened up as a sign of respect.

But before he could say goodbye, Bishenghua had already stood up, and helped Aoki up, supported his armpits, and turned his back, looking like he wanted to carry Aoki on his back.

No matter how much a woman dresses like a man, she is only a woman after all. Aoki is not small, and he has been lying for ten years, and he doesn't seem to have lost weight.

Bishenghua's movements seemed very clumsy and laborious, and he finally got Aoki on his back, and as soon as his hand was released, the person slipped down again.

There is a saying that it is easy to carry the living, but it is difficult to carry the dead.

Zhao Pengcheng heard Yu Jianguo say that the corpses in the morgue are the most tiring work, and a person is a complete person, but he is soft and collapsed, and he can't use any strength.

He hurriedly went up to help him, and when he touched Aoki's body, the surgeon's hand sensitively felt a faint heartbeat, and the thumping rhythm startled him, almost thinking that Aoki was about to wake up. When he realized that this was an illusion, Bishenghua had already picked up Aoki on his back and walked out with difficult steps.

Zhao Pengcheng looked at Aoki's back lying on the woman's body, and suddenly heard the sound of tapping and tapping.

He remembered that in that dark corridor without dimension, there was such a back in a trench coat at this moment, walking and walking alone, endlessly......